DSUP · GLOSSARY

Glossary

Real terminology, defined once. No invented lore — the animal is stranger than anything we could make up.

Tun: The dehydrated, barrel-shaped cryptobiotic state. Metabolism arrests; the animal is functionally not alive, and cannot be killed.
Cryptobiosis: The state itself — reversible metabolic arrest with enhanced longevity and environmental resistance.
Anhydrobiosis: Cryptobiosis induced by drying, specifically.
Vitrification: Cells turn to glass. Tardigrade-specific disordered proteins condense into a glassy matrix that physically prevents biomolecules from moving, and therefore from denaturing.
Lunule: The crescent-shaped thickening at the base of a claw.
Placoid: Cuticular rods in the pharynx. Shed and rebuilt at every molt.
Specimen: What we call the NFTs. Never "PFP".
Radiotrophic: Feeding on ionizing radiation. Radiotrophic fungi were found thriving inside the Chernobyl reactor — an organism that eats the thing that is supposed to kill it.
Dsup: Damage Suppressor protein — a real DNA-binding protein unique to tardigrades. It coats the animal's chromatin and suppresses the DNA damage that radiation would otherwise cause.
Token-bound account: An ERC-6551 smart contract wallet owned by an NFT rather than by a private key. The NFT is not a picture that points to a wallet — it is the wallet's owner.

DSUP is an experimental on-chain protocol. Distributions are rewards-program airdrops funded by protocol fee revenue — not corporate dividends, equity ownership, or shareholder rights. Token-bound account contents are controlled by the specimen owner and may be withdrawn or lose value at any time. Nothing here is financial advice.